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McAfee Labs Predicts Decline of Anonymous
Every years, McAfee Labs produces a list of predictions relating to computer security for the next 12 months. Last year (PDF) they said Anonymous would have to reinvent itself, and that there would be an overall increase in online hacktivism. This year's report (PDF) is not as optimistic for the hacking collective. "Too many uncoordinated and unclear operations have been detrimental to its reputation. Added to this, the disinformation, false claims, and pure hacking actions will lead to the movement’s being less politically visible than in the past. Because Anonymous’ level of
technical sophistication has stagnated and its tactics are better understood by its potential victims, the group’s level of success will decline." That's not to say they think hacktivism itself is on the decline, though: "Meanwhile, patriot groups self-organized into cyberarmies and spreading their extremist views will flourish. Up to now their efforts have had little impact (generally defacement of websites or DDoS for a very short period), but their actions will improve in sophistication and aggressiveness." The report also predicts that malware kits will lead to an "explosion in malware" for OS X and mobile, but that Windows 8 will be the next big target.
McAfee the person hasn't been associated with McAfee labs for a long time now.
...Anonymous....
How many of these claims Mcaffee corporation's professional prognosticators have actually been remotely true? Tabloid psychics run the same routine every year too.
So many times I've seen McAfee try to sneak its way into my system, and once they get in, your system runs like SHIT!
-- By all means let's be open-minded, but not so open-minded that our brains drop out.
Love the juxtaposition of "patriot" and "extremist".
Because clearly, not wanting to live in a corporate dystopia is an "extremist" viewpoint.
McAfee the person hasn't been associated with McAfee labs for a long time now.
No, but that doesn't mean that his actions can't tarnish the brand. It is, after all, named after him, even if he isn't there any more.
The design of the current Anon is structurally and organizationally flawed. There aren't any Anon ethics think tanks to actually guide Anon philosophically. There aren't any professionals to advise or consult Anon on the potential global consequences of their actions. As a result they are a blind politically oriented umbrella organization. This is fine if you're a teenager or young adult in the early 20s range but by the time you reach your 30s and 40s you'll see that Anon isn't the way to go and wont really lead to the results they desire due to how they go about it.
Anon has a function and a reason to exist if it were used intelligently but as it is now it's not used intelligently, it's not a self aware collective. An unaware collective is worse than no collective.